Week 2 of the NFL season was a wild one. We got a second tie in as many weeks, some interesting comebacks and comeback attempts, another consequential roughing the passer call, and a number of struggling kickers. There can be no shortage of talking points from a week as eventful as this one.
Here are the 15 biggest disappointments from the NFL week.
Vontae Davis, CB, Bills
Retiring from the NFL at halftime of a game? Bold and unconventional to be sure, but that’s precisely what Davis did on Sunday with his Bills down 28-6 to the Chargers. Teammates did not like his actions, but Davis felt he could no longer contribute and simply walked off mid-game. It’s probably not the best way to do things even if you do think you have nothing left to give, and it’s a truly bizarre story that will put Davis in the headlines this week whether he likes it or not.
It was a nightmare day for Carlson, whose roster spot is surely in serious jeopardy at this point. The Minnesota rookie missed from 48 in the second quarter, but the real damage came in overtime, when he missed twice more. The first was from 49, but the second, from 35 yards with time expiring, is simply an unacceptable distance for an NFL kicker to be missing from. Carlson was warned during the preseason over his misses, and now he’s more or less cost them a key divisional win on the road. His roster spot must be hanging by a thread at best.
It’s been a nightmare season for Gonzalez, and Sunday may mark the end of his tenure with the Browns. He left a full eight points on the field in a 21-18 loss. He missed field goal attempts from 44 yards out and another from 52 late the fourth that would have sent the game to overtime. He also brutally missed a pair of extra points, the second coming with 1:16 left that would have given the Browns a one-point lead. Gonzalez had a would-be game-winner blocked in overtime last week as well. The Browns are probably running out of patience with him.
The Cardinals are a disaster. Sam Bradford managed just 90 yards passing. David Johnson got nothing going in the run game. There are few weapons other than Larry Fitzgerald, who led the team with 28 receiving yards before exiting with an injury. People can call for Josh Rosen all they want, and not without merit, but would he do any better with the group around him? They’re giving the Buffalo Bills a run for their money as one of the worst teams in the NFL.
Le’Veon Bell will probably feel much more needed this week than last. In Conner’s defense, the Steelers fell behind 21-0 very quickly and got little chance to establish the run game, essentially putting things in the hands of Ben Roethlisberger for the last three quarters. Still, Conner was a total non-factor. He picked up just 17 yards on eight carries, albeit with a touchdown near the goal line. He was slightly more active in the passing game, but with only 48 yards, not that much more. Anyone hoping for a big follow-up after his strong game last week came away very disappointed.
Treadwell caught a touchdown pass in Sunday’s game, but that fails to mask the fact that his day was a litany of errors. The second half, in particular, was a nightmare. He dropped a sure third down conversion. He let a pass go through his hands that was ultimately intercepted late in the fourth. He concluded with another drop and a poorly-run route in overtime. He’s probably grateful to kicker Daniel Carlson for taking some of the heat off what was a dismal performance.
We’re two games in now so we have to at least consider than Ryan Fitzpatrick is doing some of this on merit, but there’s no hiding from the fact that the vaunted Philadelphia defense got torched. Their defensive backs struggled in particular against Fitzpatrick, and the Buccaneers put up 436 total yards against the reigning Super Bowl champions — a unit that prided themselves on their defense in their championship year. They were much more stingy against the Atlanta Falcons a week ago, so the hope is that this a blip on the radar, but they can’t be happy with their performance.
